The U.S.-Mexico market in the coming months will get two new routes, while two others will go dormant: Aeromexico got the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s nod for Morelia-Chicago and Puebla-Los Angeles services, which will start next month (DAILY, Nov. 13). AirTran, meanwhile, will not launch Atlanta-Cancun service in December and America West will suspend its Los Angeles-Acapulco service on Jan. 7. Both moves will leave Delta without competition on the routes.
In what would be one of the largest takeovers in Australian history, a consortium led by Texas Pacific has held talks with Qantas with an eye to buying the carrier. Qantas confirmed it "received an approach" from the Texas Pacific Group and Australia's Macquarie Bank, but the approach is "confidential and incomplete and is being investigated by Qantas." The carrier noted it has held discussions over the years with "a range of individuals and companies."
Air Transat won approval from the Canadian government to fly scheduled services from Canada to Austria. The airline plans to launch seasonal flights in May, with the goal of offering year-round service based on market demand.
The federal government, except for the Defense and Homeland Security departments, remains funded by a continuing resolution (CR) through Dec. 8, and may even stay there for the rest of fiscal 2007 under one scenario brewing on Capitol Hill.
Southwest initiated its third share purchase of the year for up to $400 million of common stock on Wednesday's closing price of $15.94. In the previous two buy-backs, Southwest repurchased 36.5 million shares for $600 million.
The European Commission next month will propose draft legislation aimed at creating a network of national regulators capable of restricting the increase of airport charges in the European Union.
Loads at Mesa's Hawaiian operation Go are lower than projected after the region's incumbent carriers boosted their capacity when Go entered the market, says Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein. He told analysts yesterday the company expected Go's loads to fall into the 70% range, but they're currently running around 60%. He said entrenched Hawaiian carriers added about 11% more capacity than Go brought to Hawaii in total. Go's revenues are also a bit lower than expected, Mesa's CEO said.
Kingfisher Airlines by yearend expects to apply to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for permission to launch service to San Francisco and New York, starting in early 2008, The DAILY has learned.
SkyWest was the first beneficiary of Delta's regional business up for grabs after the major awarded its regional partner 12 CRJ-700s exiting Comair's fleet. Previously, Comair said it was flying 27 of the 70-seat planes included in Delta's request for proposal for up to 143 planes (DAILY, Aug. 23). SkyWest is set to start flying the planes from Cincinnati in February, and an airline executive told The DAILY that SkyWest needed to sort out the operational details, but Comair could possibly handle some of the ground-handling on those planes.
Korean Air yesterday finalized a significant deal for 25 Boeing passenger and freighter aircraft, as part of the carrier's strategy to boost capacity to China, India and other growth spots around the world.
The empty TWA Terminal at New York Kennedy Airport is one step closer to redevelopment after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced plans to put out a request for proposal by Nov. 30 on ideas for the facility.
By: Steve Lott, Aviation Daily Don't be fooled by the recent dip in fuel costs because airline executives at all airlines -- including hedging master Southwest -- are still anxious that another spike in oil is right around the corner. They have reason to be nervous because an analysis of historical data and future estimates shows prices are not close to stabilizing. The DAILY and partner Eclat Consulting found that the past six months, in particular, have seen some of the most volatile shifts in fuel pricing ever.
New Mexican low-cost carrier Alma de Mexico on Dec. 1 will launch operations from its corporate base in Queretaro in Central Mexico. Alma will initially concentrate on business travelers and vacationers in high-traffic routes from Queretaro to Monterrey and Guadalajara, spokesman Hector Gonzalez said, competing favorably in fares and travel time with large segments of the market that now go by bus. Before Alma's advent, passengers between these city-pairs had to fly through Mexico City's crowded airports.
The code-sharing agreement between Venezuela's Aeropostal and Cuba's Cubana will enter its next phase on Jan. 1, when the accord expands to include routes to Lima, Bogota, Medellin, Port-of-Spain, all of Aeropostal's destinations in Venezuela and the airline's Venezuela-Cuba flights. Caracas daily El Universal reports both parties are now exploring new code-share destinations, as well as "further cooperation and coordination in marketing to increase traffic to Havana." -LZ
Delta's only major union group yesterday said that US Airways' proposed hostile merger deal appears to lack any substantial benefit for employees, and the pilot leadership vows to fight the takeover.
BAA's plans to boost traffic at London Stansted Airport were dealt a blow yesterday when local council staff recommended rejecting BAA's request to lift traffic limits. Staff from Uttlesford District Council described BAA's application to loosen restrictions on Stansted as "unacceptable." BAA wants to remove a 25 million passengers-per-year cap, and increase the limit on annual aircraft operations from 241,000 to 264,000. The council's Development Control Committee will decide on the application on Nov. 29.
GOL followed through on plans to lower operating margin guidance yesterday through an update showing margins next year would be slightly above or below 23% versus previous projections of 26%-28%. The carrier warned of falling operating margins in its last earnings call (DAILY, Nov. 1). GOL also said net revenues would fall to about BRL4 billion from BRL4.1 billion, while unit revenues excluding fuel are being squeezed to BRL9.3 cents 9 to 10 cents. Problems with Brazilian air traffic control triggered GOL's revisions.
FAA this month introduced a system to improve traffic flow at its Los Angeles en route center and Las Vegas terminal approach control facility. The traffic management adviser (TMA) is designed to analyze approaching flights and calculate scheduled arrival times, giving controllers more information in advance. TMA was first introduced at the Minneapolis en route center in 2000, and is now being used at 12 centers. The system is scheduled to be installed at the remaining eight en route centers next year.
Caribbean Star Airlines Ltd. and LIAT yesterday reported that negotiations to merge the carriers are moving "smoothly" and that project teams comprising staff from both airlines have had joint meetings to develop proposals outlining the planned new carrier's structure and scope of operations.
